(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention provides a solar tracking skylight system for illumination, which directs natural light indoors for illumination use, thereby achieving the objective of providing lighting without the use of electricity.
(b) Description of the Prior Art
Lighting is closely tied to and inseparable from human life, causing the steady increase in electricity utilization for lighting. Hence, how to cut down on energy consumption is a major issue. Recently, various countries have successively carried out research on using and guiding sunlight (natural light) indoors for illumination use, and the means used to accomplish this are roughly divided into direct and indirect methods. The direct means guides sunlight indoors for illumination use; the indirect means converts sunlight into electrical energy for illumination use. The latter uses solar battery modules to carry out photoelectric conversion, but has the shortcomings of low efficiency and high cost. Because the former methods directly guide sunlight indoors for application thereof, thus, efficiency is increased. Moreover, because sunlight is directly used for illumination, there is no need for electric power, thereby achieving the effectiveness of saving energy and reducing carbon emissions, and is thus receiving much attention. However, because it is a fixed natural light illumination system, thus, its effectiveness is limited. In order to improve light collecting effectiveness, a solar tracking sunlight lighting system is proposed. Regarding the solar tracking system, a solar tracking mechanism thereof is divided into single axis and two-axis drive, in which, generally speaking, the two-axis mechanism is able to model movement of the solar orbit more effectively than the single axis mechanism. Moreover, controlling driving of the rotating shaft for tracking is divided into passive and active controlled tracking, in which path movement of the sun is calculated in advance in so-called passive tracking, and a tracking device is then made to rotate according to the solar orbit. Because a controller directly outputs signals to a driving end, thus, it is also called open-loop control; whereas active tracking is generally implemented by a light sensor device detecting the position of the sun to cause the tracking device to be orthogonal thereto. Because the output signals causes negative feedback on the input signals, thus, it is also called closed-loop control. Many silicon crystal solar batteries function in coordination with single axis active tracking devices to increase electric energy generation, thereby providing approximately 20-30% higher efficiency compared to fixed solar energy modules. The majority of two-axis tracking devices are primarily used for tracking, and two-axis passive tracking primarily enables simplification of control flow, thereby avoiding the problems of noise interference in the closed-loop control and weather influencing the sensing precision. Because sunlight is directly guided indoors for illumination, thus, the use efficiency of solar energy is high, and in recent years research teams have already appeared, researching the application concept of directly guiding sunlight indoors, primarily taking into consideration technical feasibility, economic benefit, energy saving, whether components are easy to replace, consumer acceptance, and so on, with some products already integrated into buildings. However, the size of the light collecting portion of these systems is relatively large, or consists of many and complicated components, or the light collecting rate is low. Accordingly, it can be inferred that market acceptance is limited. Hence, the challenging goal for future development of new style sunlight collecting devices can be roughly divided into the following items: 1. structure: light, aspect ratio of the components must be at least greater than 10; 2. cost: inexpensive, easy to fabricate, and simple components; 3. benefit: low light loss, high uniformity, with light collecting rate greater than 50%. In consequence of the prior art technology having the aforementioned shortcomings, the present invention is composed of a light guide, a solar tracking controller, a two-axis tracking mechanism, an energy converter and energy storage system, and a weather protective cover, thereby enabling the collection of light and diffusion indoors for use thereof. In which the component members are simple and light, easy to operate, assemble and install. Moreover, the present invention provides protection against rain, consumes little electric power, and has a long serviceable life. Using a large number together achieves the objective of reducing carbon emissions, and also resolves the shortcomings of the prior art technology. The present invention uses green technology that protects the environment to provide an excellent product.